Metagora's working structures

Metagora is implemented under the auspices of Paris21, an OECD-hosted consortium whose aim is to foster more effective dialogue between producers and users of statistics on development issues. The organizational link of Metagora to OECD's Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD) allows for synergies with OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and its subsidiary bodies such as the DAC's Network on Governance (GOVNET).

The project itself is structured into five bodies:

Metagora Coordination Team (MCT)
Nature of this structure: leading management body.
Main responsibilities: overall project management, budget follow-up, internal and external communication, advocacy for Metagora objectives and delivery of expected project results. MCT brings together all actions and elements of the project into a whole coherent common operation. It ensures timely information flows and efficient organisation, and provides strong co-ordinating leadership.

Metagora Partners Group (MPG)
Nature of this structure: leading scientific and technical body (project's effective intellectual engine)
Main responsibilities: ensuring internal methodological consistency and substantive cohesion of the project as a whole; providing effective and efficient expertness to PIOs and to local teams; fostering substantive interactions between the various activities; guiding and checking the adequacy of each activity with the overall project objectives; guaranteeing restitution of know-how and effective partnership; designing and producing final project outcomes.
Composition: MPG is chaired by Dr Mark Orkin (CEO, HSRC, South Africa) and gathers together experts from PIOs (local co-ordinators and leading local experts), as well as senior experts from the South and from the North involved in the implementation of the project either as providers of technical assistance or as members of the following task teams:

• "inventory of initiatives",
• "pilot surveys",
• "synthesis, outline guidelines and final report",
• "training materials",
• "platform on indicators".

Independent Panel of Experts
Nature of this structure: scientific assessing body
Main responsibilities: providing independent review, reporting and advice on the technical and scientific processes and methods; guaranteeing rigorous peer review of project's results; formulating recommendations.
Membership: Mr Jean-Louis Bodin, former president of the International Statistical Institute ISI is the convener of a group of outstanding personalities and internationally recognized scientists with sound knowledge and experience in the fields of statistical science and human rights & governance assessment, including selected members of the UN Statistical Commission.

Steering Committee of Donors
Nature of this structure: steering body
Main responsibilities: Approve any substantial modifications to the workplan or any substantial budget reallocation; approve proposals by the MCT of modifications in the mandates or in the membership of the Metagora working structures; closely follow the advancement and results of the project, providing support and guidance to the MCT; examine issues raised by the MCT related to the use of resources allocated to the project; approve when needed decisions on substantial changes in the working programme; offer advice on all documents for publication; confront the development and findings of the project with the policies of donors.
Composition: representatives of EC and of the donor institutions of France, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as of OECD-DCD and the PARIS21 Secretariat.

Metagora Forum
Nature of this structure: The Metagora Forum is not a formal mechanism of the project but an informal open-ended policy-oriented meeting. It is gathering together all the major actors who since the Montreux Conference are expressing interest to be informed on the development of the project and also to confront the project's intermediary and final findings with the effective needs of stakeholders in the field of monitoring democracy, human rights and governance.
Main objectives of the Forum: confront the development and findings of the project with effective needs of stakeholders in the field of monitoring democracy, human rights and governance; comment on policy incidence of the development and outcome of the project; foster interaction and synergies between Metagora and other similar projects and initiatives; formulate proposals to integrate specific project achievements and findings within existing or planned monitoring mechanisms; formulate recommendations aiming at fostering use of proper assessment methods and measurement tools in the fields of human rights and governance and at initiating and supporting processes of adoption of internationally agreed indicators in these fields; formulate proposals in view to a coherent follow-up of Metagora achievements after the end of the pilot phase.
The first gathering of the Forum took place in May 2005, after the compilation of the first preliminary results of the project. The Forum provided policy-oriented inputs that allow the Metagora community to take into account stakeholder's needs and expectations within the analytical work and the production of the final products to be carried out in the second year of operations.
Composition: The Forum is of a participatory and multi-disciplinary nature. Participants are high-level experts able to present the policies and views of their organisations with full authoritative voice.